05 March, 2012

Penang Food Fest @ Suria Cafe, The Saujana Kuala Lumpur

It has been 9 months since I last went for a food trip at Penang. Almost a year after the wonderful trip with delectable sumptuous street food from one alley to another, I finally found a place which offers the Penang's best food in KL.

Thanks to Suria Cafe @ The Saujana Resort for having this Penang Food Fest from1 to 14 March 2012, so that I can enjoy the Penangites' faves in KL!

The restaurant has transformed with stalls serving local Penang fare. You can go from one stall to another and see how the experienced chefs prepare the delicacies in front of you.

#1 Penang Kopi Tarik

The presentation of the coffee reminds me of the oldies coffee shops at almost every corner in Penang. I quickly sip on this cup of aromatic coffee before starting off with some Penang choices of appetizers.

#2 Penang Rojak

The Penang Rojak, Mamak Pasembur and Chinese Loh Bak are some Penang street food which satiates the multi-racial Malaysians, and I'm glad to find them here.

I picked some beancurd, prawn fritter, fried crabsticks, egg, fish cakes, and deep-fried prawns before adding the shredded cucumber, turnip and spicy sweet peanut sauce. The combination may be of both Malay and Chinese styles, but it's just nice for me.

#3 Sotong Kangkung

Here you can enjoy the delicious brown cuttlefish and water conculvus with the sweet and spicy sauce.

#4 Penang Assam Laksa

When it comes to the main courses, this staple and most famous hawker food definitely tops my list! The Assam Laksa here is really addictive because of the spicy and sour taste of the thick fish broth. Of course, no Assam Laksa is perfect without the Hae Kor (Dark prawn paste)!

#3 Penang Char Kuey Teow

Another famous street food coming my way is the fried flat noodles with shrimps and cockles. I love the dish to be spiced up with generous amount of chilli paste. Alternatively, you can opt for Penang Char Kuay Kaa with Chap Chai Poh which is of similar authenticity.

#4 Penang Curry Noodles

At the first glance, I recognize this as an original Penang curry noodles because of its lighter pale color, unlike those fiery-red-colored curry served in KL. After my first spoon, I find the soup very flavourful as it is aromatic on its own.

#5 Penang Oh-Chien

The fried oyster omelette tastes good with the right amount of starch used to hold the eggs and oysters together. Not too gummy, I personally enjoy the slightly sticky texture of the dish.

#6 Penang Chee Cheong Fun

I learn that a plate of hawker-styled steamed rice noodle rolls is best served with shrimp sauce for an authentic Penang taste, so I'd love to try it next time.

#7 Mee Goreng Mamak

Another popular Penang hawker food, the spicy fried noodle is also a must-try. The yellow egg noodles are fried with eggs, prawns, fish cakes and chilli into perfection, and I find a good balance of sweet and spicy taste in this dish.

#8 Popiah Basah

The spring roll here is tiny in size, holding lesser stuffing as compared to the usual ones. Consisting of crushed peanuts, shredded vegetables and chilli sauce, I personally find it less interesting because I prefer thinner skin. And I'd love to have some Pai Tee rather than popiah.

#9 Apom Pisang

I've always thought that Apam Pisang is an oven-baked banana cake. But the apam served here is actually a banana pancake, made of smooth flour batter and stuffed with raw, sliced banana. It still looks a little boring eventhough it is served on banana leaf.

So why not we add some interesting features onto the dish? Healthy fruit slices served along with the pancake is perfect especially for breakfast. That makes me craving for some maple syrup as well.

#10 Penang ABC

After sampling the hot and spicy food, it's time for some Ais Batu Campur. The shaved ice with generous amount of cendol, red beans, nuts, cincau, sweet corns and jelly cubes is a well-balanced dessert with the right amount of sweetness.

#11 Pulut Hitam Dessert

The perfect endnote of the buffet-styled meal is a bowl of Chinese black glutinuos rice dessert. Thickened with coconut cream, it is a very filling and aromatic dessert.

#12 Chef Desmond, Chef Wafi and Chef Badrol

The above scrumptious meal is prepared by these 3 Penang''s Top Chefs. They came all the way to KL to display the true colours of Penang hawker fare, and thanks to them for spreading the art of Penang food around.

You don't have to spend hundreds on a food trip to Penang because now you can easily get a taste of Penang's best delicacies @ RM68++ for lunchand RM84++ for dinner here!

With the ongoing Penang Food Fest, other local and western cuisines are served as usual in Suria Cafe. There you can experience the al-fresco dining with wide selections of fusion food.

Verdict:

1. Out of the wide selections of Penang hawker fare, the assam laksa is my favourite among all.

2.No matter how authentic the food is, I still prefer enjoying them at some noisy streets or crowded stalls in Penang.

3. I was actually looking forward to sampling Penang Har Mee, but seems like they don't offer any.

Ah!!! This looks a lot better than what I saw at Concorde KLIA - cheaper there but could hardly see anything Penang...mostly usual hotel buffet stuff. This one has the stalls - that's what Penang food is all about - hawker stall food. Yummmmm!!!!!

Thanks very much for dropping by my blog! My gosh...can't believe what I am seeing here. It's all killing me...haha. They look SO good! I really miss Penang food! Hope I can cook all these! Thanks very much for sharing.

If you like Penang Assam Laksa, I would recommend you to visit Cafe Bonne Grey at Menara Hap Seng at Jalan P. Rample. It's located at the ground floor next to Trattoria. Their Mocha Fantasy ice-cream coffee is one of my favorite too!